Spirit photography is a type of photography whose primary goal is to capture images of ghosts and other spiritual entities, especially in ghost hunting. It dates back to the late 19th century. The end of the American Civil War and the mid-19th Century Spiritualism movement contributed greatly to the popularity of spirit photography. The omnipresence of death in the Victorian period created a desire for evidence of the afterlife, and those who partook in Spirit Photography oftentimes hoped to receive images that depicted the likeness of a deceased relative or loved one. Photographers such as William Mumler and William Hope ran thriving businesses taking photos of people with their supposed dead relatives. Both were shown to be frauds, but "true believers", such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, refused to accept the evidence as proof of a hoax.

Mary Ann Todd Lincoln served as the first lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865.